Arguing that "kindergarten is a triumph of sexual self-stereotyping,''
the author chronicles her involvement with a class of kindergarten
students as they begin to define themselves in terms of sex roles. An
elementary-school teacher for 25 years, Ms. Paley describes in
journal-like style her attempts to understand the dynamics of her
classroom and her struggle to accept the boys' play as well as the
girls'. She concludes that the boys' fantasies represent "natural,
universal, and essential play" and questions teachers that reward the
quiet domesticity of girls over the adventurousness of boys.

Redefining General Education in the American High School, by Arthur D.
Roberts and Gordon Cawelti (Association for Supervision and Curriculum
Development, 225 North Washington St., Alexandria, Va. 22314; 160
pages, paper $8.50).

Citing the need for a significant national effort to define the core
areas, or "common learnings," in which every American high-school
student should be educated, the authors present the results of a
two-year project involving a network of 14 high schools across the
country that has attempted to define and implement general-education
curricula appropriate to students' different needs. Among the major
conclusions of the book is that planning and implementation of changes
are most effective and appropriate to a school's individual character
if they are generated by local faculty and administration rather than
simply mandated at the district or state level. The authors also
include appendices that describe four of the participating schools'
"common learnings.'' Mr. Roberts is a professor of education,
curriculum, and instruction at the University of Connecticut, Storrs,
and Mr. Cawelti is the executive director of the ascd

Expressing concern that those who initiate school-reform efforts too
often neglect to consider how schools differ from each other, the
authors offer advice for planning for change within the context of a
school's individual character. The book looks at the question of why
efforts to change work effectively in some schools and not in others,
based on the authors' three years of observations and interviews in 14
elementary, junior, and senior high schools. It considers both the
influence of educators from outside the school, such as state education
department staff members and district-level curriculum coordinators,
and the participation of local administrative staff members and
teachers. Three appendices offer case histories of the schools that
participated in the study, an explanation of the research methods used,
and suggestions for how educators might better assess the effect of
individual school characteristics on desired change. The authors are
researchers with Research for Better Schools, a federally supported
research organization in Philadelphia.

The author considers teacher-certification issues from the perspective
of blacks in the profession. She argues that the increasing number of
teacher-certification tests mandated by states threatens to reduce
significantly the number of new minority teachers and seriously harm
the historically black institutions of higher education that train
teachers. Ms. Dilworth, a research fellow at Howard University's
Institute for the Study of Educational Policy, considers the
development of teacher-training requirements, the history of blacks in
the teaching profession, and the use of testing to provide
accountability, and makes recommendations on how teacher training and
testing could be reorganized to be more effective and more sensitive to
the concerns of minority teachers.

Mr. Walling, a teacher, administrator, and author, presents school
administrators with information on how and why to set up school work
groups to build staff involvement. He provides suggestions on how to
increase the level of effectiveness of staff meetings, advisory panels,
and workshops for staff involvement, with the aims of strengthening the
sense of professionalism among the school's educators and fostering
greater communication between administrators and staff members. The
book contains appendices that outline meeting procedures and list
additional resources.

International Students in the United States: A Guide for Secondary
School Administrators, by the National Association for Foreign Student
Affairs and the Committee on International Programs of the National
Association of Secondary School Principals (nafsa, 1860 19th St., N.W.,
Washington, D.C. 20009; 113 pages, paper $2).

Addressing both the benefits and the problems that can arise when
foreign students attend American high schools, the nafsa offers
suggestions on how to place and evaluate foreign students,
recommendations for guidance and counseling--including information on
U.S. immigration regulations and procedures--and information for
principals, as well as brief cultural profiles of Canada, France,
Germany, Great Britain, Italy, and Japan.

The College Board presents information for students, parents, and
college counselors on financing college, including how students can
determine the costs of attending college, how families can calculate
their ability to pay, and where students can apply for assistance. The
guide also offers advice on applying for financial aid and stretching
personal resources. And it provides appendices with additional
information on individual colleges and state and federal sources of
financial aid.

This guide looks at the relationship between effective schools and
delinquency prevention, and offers numerous delinquency-prevention
strategies for school officials. The authors also provide an annotated
bibliography of relevant articles and books and a listing of resources
for further information.

The staff of Catalyst, a national nonprofit organization that works
with corporations and individuals on career- and family-guidance
issues, presents a two-part guide for high-school girls to assist them
in deciding on careers. The first section of the book offers
information, interviews, exercises, and worksheets to help students
determine their areas of interest and aptitude; the second section
offers advice on how to get educational and professional credentials,
and how to look for and find the right job.

This monograph, written for school-board members, administrators, and
school lawyers, addresses issues of student transportation, including
choosing and funding transportation, the school's responsibility for
students, defense of the school board in litigation, transportation of
special-education students, busing of students for the purpose of
desegregation, and transportation of private-school students.

The author, superintendent of the Rocky Hill (Conn.) Public Schools,
tells teachers, administrators, and school-board members how to prepare
and present school budgets that persuade local taxpayers to provide
more money to schools. He examines how a persuasive budget is put
together and answers common questions that arise about financial
planning for schools.

The staff of the Glenbard East Echo, a high-school newspaper in
Lombard, Ill., presents interviews with, and illustrations by, students
across the country on topics ranging from school, divorce, sex,
religion, and prejudice, to the national debt and the possibility of
World War III. The book is the result of a year-long project in which
almost 9,000 responses from students were solicited and evaluated by
the staff of the Echo with the help of their newspaper adviser and
teachers.

--Pamela Winston

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